I Just Want to Give a Girl a Home

The lunch bell rang.

Many of the slackers had already lost their patience and bolted out of the classroom, afraid that a single step slower would mean missing out on lunch—even though no one was fighting over the free wild vegetable set meals.

Just as I was about to get up and head back to the dorm, I sensed two girls approaching me.

"Satoru-chan, you're being bad! You never replied to our messages!"

Hasebe Haruka dragged Sakura Airi over to my seat.

This was probably the first time today that someone had actively come up to me in the classroom.

Come to think of it, even though my looks were pretty good, most of the class's opinion of me seemed to be:

'This guy's good-looking and has great grades, but it's a shame he has a mouth!'

Some people seemed like they wanted to strike up a conversation, but seeing the atmosphere in the class, they all gave up. That was fine by me, saved me the trouble.

"Long time no see, Kaka, Airi-chan."

"L-long time no see, Gojo-kun."

Sakura Airi, being pulled by the hand, blushed shyly and kept trying to hide behind the other girl.

"Just call me Satoru, didn't we exchange names last time? Look, Kaka says it just fine."

Noticing she hadn't used his given name, sensing a bit of distance, Gojo Satoru reminded her directly.

"O-okay... Satoru-chan?"

"That's better."

"Don't change the subject! Why didn't you reply to our messages, Satoru-chan? You disappeared for over half a month, and we just became friends!"

Hasebe Haruka wasn't letting it slide.

They'd only exchanged contact info during swim class and become close enough to call each other by nicknames, and then he'd gone completely off the grid.

"Huh? Didn't Airi-chan tell you? I don't like checking my phone."

"Is there even someone like that in today's society?"

Hasebe Haruka couldn't believe it—someone refusing online contact in this age of advanced networks.

"There is, there is. I'm off now, my girlfriend's waiting for me to feed her."

"Huh?! Satoru-chan already has a partner?"

As she said this, she glanced back at Sakura Airi, who only buried her head lower and gripped her hand tighter.

"Of course, I'm a handsome guy after all. I've already got two girlfriends, and they're both beauties!

If you or Airi-chan ever can't make ends meet, you can come to me—I'll take care of you!"

Hearing his joking yet somewhat sincere words, Hasebe Haruka just shouted, "Satoru-chan, you jerk!" and pulled Sakura out of the classroom.

"How is that being a jerk? I just want to give every girl I like a home."

Watching their retreating figures, Gojo Satoru just smiled and muttered to himself.

"Gojo-kun!"

Carrying a packed bento on his way back to the dorm—why buy a bento instead of making it himself?

First, it was a hassle. Second, there wasn't enough time. Even though school let out early in the afternoon, lunch break was only an hour.

Just going back and forth took a lot of time; there was no way to cook.

Hearing someone call his name, Gojo Satoru turned around and saw Kobashi Yume pulling Shiranami Chihiro by the hand as they ran toward him.

He recognized both their names, but that was one-sided. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, he chose to act like he didn't know them.

As they reached him, Gojo Satoru asked with a puzzled look, "Classmates, who are you?"

Realizing he didn't recognize them, Kobashi Yume started introducing herself.

"I'm Kobashi Yume, and this is Shiranami Chihiro. We're close friends in the same class as Mako.

We heard Mako took the day off today, so I wanted to ask you about it, since yesterday..."

"Since yesterday night, Mako told us she was with you!"

Shiranami Chihiro cut in quickly.

It was too embarrassing to admit they'd been spying on someone; better not to say it.

Catching on, Kobashi Yume immediately added, "Ah, right, right! Because last night she called and said she was with you, but when we tried calling her today, it didn't go through. So when we saw you, we thought we'd come ask."

"So the two hiding behind the tree last night were them? Then who was the third? That presence felt familiar..."

Seeing how flustered they were, Gojo Satoru couldn't be bothered to call them out on it.

Instead, he answered directly.

"Xiao Mako's in my dorm. There was a little scuffle last night, so she probably won't make it to class today. But she should be fine to go tomorrow."

He gave a rough rundown of what happened. No point hiding it—these two were targets anyway.

"Eh!?" ×2

Slow as they were to catch on, he'd spelled it out clearly enough. In the dorm, a scuffle keeping her from class, just got together—if they still didn't get what that meant, that'd be weird.

Shiranami Chihiro's little brain was already short-circuiting. She was still figuring out how to confess to Ichinose, and her best friend had already stepped into the adult world!

"Th-That's... that's really..."

Kobashi Yume couldn't even string a sentence together. Her close friend had already gone that far with her crush on the very first day!

Was she supposed to congratulate her or what? And was it really okay for him to be so blunt about it?

"If you've got nothing else, I'll be off. Xiao Mako's waiting for me to feed her. See ya."

Seeing they were at a loss for words, Gojo Satoru decided not to keep teasing them. With a smile and a goodbye, he turned and headed back toward the dorm.

"Oh, oh! See ya!"

Snapping out of it, Kobashi Yume replied quickly. But beside her, Shiranami Chihiro was still lost in thought, completely out of it.

That afternoon, right after school let out.

"Gojo."

Just as he stepped out of the classroom, planning to check on Xiao Mako, someone called his name. He turned around.

There was Sudo Ken, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin as he walked over.

"Something up?"

He hadn't had any second conflict with the guy since coming to school. Borrowing points? Unlikely. Or was it about the Basketball Club?

"Actually, I'm sure you know I joined the Basketball Club, right? Yesterday, my captain found out Class D has zero class points. So he wants to organize a match between the first-year new members and the third-year veterans. For every basket a first-year scores, he'll pay 500 Private Points as a reward. He also said if you join, he'll pay you the same amount as last time."

500 per basket? Chump change to him, but not bad for other first-years. Though their skill level didn't seem that high.

Pay 3 million just for showing up? Obviously aimed at me.

"Did he tell you how much?"

"No, he didn't."

'Tight-lipped, huh.'

He remembered the first-years were pretty weak. The only one with any real talent was Sudo Ken, and even he only became a regular after a few semesters of training.

Was he planning to use teamwork to beat him, to teach him that individual ability wasn't everything?

But he hadn't mentioned winning or losing—just that he'd pay for participation. Did he think he wouldn't pass it up?

Free points weren't worth refusing, though. He could just hand half to Xiao Mako later.

For someone who never ran out of stamina, playing five games or one made no difference—just a bit more wasted time.

"When?"

"Tomorrow after school. The day after is the weekend, so plenty of time."

"Fine."

"Great, I'll tell the captain. Just change and head to the gym after school tomorrow. I've got club training now, so I'll head off. See ya."

With that, Sudo Ken jogged away.

'Well, might as well kill some time. I'll bring Xiao Mako along to watch tomorrow.'